Microsoft to kick off Windows Phone advertising during Sunday’s NFL Football

Although Windows Phone 8 is now available (for some users at least), the big advertising campaign has yet to begin. The good news is that’s going to start this weekend, specifically during Sunday’s NFL games, which we think should get a lot of eyes.

The ad they will be using is the one that premiered during the big Windows Phone announcement at the end of October. It features numerous people of every stripe and color talking about how their Windows Phone is their own, focusing on the phrase the smartphone “reinvented around you”.

Microsoft has had mixed success with advertising in the past but we think this commercial is quite effective and should raise interest from those looking for something new. We should also point out that this is just the initial phase of advertising, so expect more things in the coming weeks.

Reader comments

Microsoft to kick off Windows Phone advertising during Sunday’s NFL Football

If you have been watching all the launch events of WP , MS never talked much about Samsung. Though they bring out WP devices , they are nothing when compared to Nokia and HTC .. Even in ads Samsung devices are not given much importance because they lack uniqueness. Whereas Nokia and HTC devices are unique in someway..

I think the commerical is "underwhelming". It is longish and really doesn't show anything catchy that anyone is likely to care about. I bet though if you ask anyone if they have seen the iPad Mini piano commercial that saw that and thought it was cool.
I went to both BestBuy and Verizon to get a look at the new phones. Neither had either. Nor was there any big deal made about them.

Well, I did not see any... Maybe I missed it while switching from channel to channel, from one game to another to catch the commercial? Seems like neither Microsoft, nor Nokia, or at&t aren't getting - if they don't "bombard" TV with the high quality commercials - people won't know about Windows phone. I own Lumia 900, and stopped by at my local at&t store yesterday to get a feeling of Lumia 920. The parking lot was unusually full, and it made me feel that a word was spread around, and people got to the store to buy new Lumias, or HTS ... Well, well, well - it was such a naive thinking.
The at&t rep greeted me at the door, and in spite of a huge Nokia Lumia 920 poster above the main register - had no clue about the phone. The other rep pointed me to the corner where Nokia phones were after I asked. It was the same corner where Lumia 900 used to be. On my question: where is 8X? I was told that they don't have it. But what surprised me the most is that nobody was even trying to give me an overview of the new phone. Instead, I was told that new LG phones are coming next week. One other thing that caught my eye was somewhat low quality of the posters.
To summarize, if Windows Phone commercials on TV are going to be as sporadic as they were for IE9, then it will fail once again.
I feel bad for all the folks at Nokia.
They built such a great device, and don't deserve such a terrible management...

Finally a great tv commercial. I went to ATT yesterday and I heard many people asking for 920 and sales person said we are out of stock. Salesperson said do you prefer iphone or galaxy s3. The person said no I don't like those phones. Hahaha yup seems like Microsoft advertising is finally showing people how great windows phone is.

Nokia has VERY COOL ad for the Lumia 920. The song used in the ad says, "You want it. Quit lying. Come try it. You can fight it." VERY COOL ad with Lumia 920s "striking a pose" to some VERY COOL music.

This is seriously the best windows phone ad ever. This could spawn a massive add campaign with public figures and how they show of they're windows phone. They could do something like a quick add with Eva Longoria or whoever and they can say "this is my windows phone". This could become a huge tag line. Do it Microsoft!!!

This is lame. No one but us here understands how smart wp8 is.
I say it's time to kick some serious butt.
Nokia should make commercial spots directly comparing iPhone 5 and Gs3 to lumia 920.
We have better technical specs in every measurable way and they should not be afraid to show it.
Its time to show some numbers and features here. My idea would be
Show all three phones (iPhone5, gs3 and l920).
Then put a specific feature under them with clear and color coded "yes" and "no".
Like:

Takes best photos

Best screen in daylight

Best phone reception

Fastest screen update

Wireless charging built in

Native Nfc support

Etc..
People may not understand all the specs but they will understand the green yes under the l920 and the red no under the other phones.
Best of all. Always end with a price under each phone. That should make people think :-)

This is a good ad... inspiring. They need to use the "Meet the Phone" videos though... especially the Ballmer one and the Belfiore videos. I really believe they are off to a good start and stand a chance to gain attention right now. :)

The best ad to date. I do agree with alot of you, which is MS should start showing the different aspects of WP8, somewhat like what Samsung did with the ATIV line. But more realistic type of daily use.

Best advertising returns would be football games due to the high number of people watching as a group without significant channel.surfing if you're in public. ATT commercials suck so glad to see this one

They got Cam in there! That's great and all the more reason to launch the ads during NFL games. That's a good starting off commercial, not as good as the Surface ones, but enough to spark some interest I think. I wouldn't rule out Jessica Alba in the future, but it might be a more Nokia or 920 focused ad. Cam is plenty for a starting ad though he could definitely stay on screen longer than two seconds.

Nokia announced phones 3 months ago, 10 days since official wp8 launch...... Cannot find 820 in Vancouver (Canada). I was hoping they fix the problem of supply, but no. If Microsoft wants to be successful they must provide products while people still are hyped.... I am really disappointed as I am ready to buy a 820 but have nowhere to go..... Have been patient with my wp7 for over a year in a world where technology/apps advance almost daily......
MS is actually giving some breathing room to BB10 if it launches in January.
There are many apps that I need but WP doesn't have. If MS doesn't put phones in peoples hands, where are the developers going to come from....
A very disorganized launch I must say... The phones should have been on the shelves and online Oct 30.... If oems were not ready MS should have related the launch...
That's my 2 cents

Yep. She probably only agreed for her image to be used when promoting her new startup - which was at the launch. Microsoft would probably have to pay a huge amount for the endorsement, so they would probably be better served to use that money towards more commerial. Besides, ATT has the*Will* ads.

The original version of this commercial that was shown at the launch keynote conference. If you fast forward to 5:30 on the link video, you see that Jessica Alba is in the commercial. She adds such a moment of coolness and a proud and beautiful celebrity endorsement that I can't understand why she isn't in the final, soon to be nationally advertised version. http://youtu.be/PbvixHH8frs

So first, the yellow Lumia in the Kei$ha video gets taken out and replaced with a deck of cards, and now Jessica Alba is taken out of a national commercial. How is this campaign going to work again? I would love to see the ad strategy. It boggles my mind so far.

This ad is really good. This is the best Windows Phone ad they've ever made. I'd like to see them follow up with this ad in the coming weeks with shorter (30 second) TV spots that show specific instances like a mom using Kid's Corner, Somone using Skype, etc.
This has the potential to have the same effect the "Windows 7 Was My Idea" commercial that really started turning the tide against Apple's advertising.

I know that I'm in the minority here, but I think that there should be a series of ads focusing on various features of the OS.
That being said, there are some features that I had hoped to be incorporated into WP8 that would have pushed the whole hub concept over the top for new consumers, but alas....